1. Volume 22, Issue 3, Pages 573-584 (March 2012)
Role of RhoA-Specific Guanine Exchange Factors in Regulation of Endomitosis in Megakaryocytes 
Yuan Gao, Elenoe Smith, Elmer Ker, Phil Campbell, Ee-chun Cheng, Siying Zou, Sharon Lin, Lin Wang, Stephanie Halene, Diane S. Krause 
Developmental Cell 
Volume 22, Issue 3, Pages (March 2012)
DOI: /j.devcel
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2. Developmental Cell 2012 22, 573-584DOI: (10.1016/j.devcel.2011.12.019)
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3. Figure 1 Endomitosis of MkPs Induced by TPO
(A) 2N to 4N Mk endomitosis shows cleavage furrow ingression with subsequent regression, resulting in one 4N cell.
(B) 4N to 8N Mk endomitosis showing no apparent cleavage furrow. The figures show overlays of DIC (gray) with green fluorescent H2B-GFP (green) images taken every 5 min. The time of each image relative to the first is indicated in each frame.
Developmental Cell  , DOI: ( /j.devcel )
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4. Figure 2
Active RhoA Is Absent from the Cleavage Furrow during the First Endomitotic Cleavage
Mouse primary PreMegE cells were transduced with the RhoA biosensor virus for 48 hr before switching to fresh GM (A) or DM (B). After 8 hr, the RhoA activation pattern throughout mitosis (A) or endomitosis (B) was assessed. The CFP channel indicates biosensor (and RhoA) localization (i, iii, and v). The RhoA activation pattern was ssessed by the RhoA biosensor's FRET/CFP ratio (FRET). The red color in FRET images indicates high RhoA activation (ii, iv, and vi). All images were processed identically. Elapsed time (minutes) with starting time set to zero (0) (8 hr post-TPO administration) is indicated in each picture. Images are representative of at least four similar observations for each condition.
Developmental Cell  , DOI: ( /j.devcel )
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5. Figure 3 GEF-H1 and ECT2 Are Downregulated during Mk Differentiation
Data shown for freshly sorted (d0) PreMegE and MkP cells from WT mice, as well as PreMegEs cultured in DM for the time indicated.
(A) Relative levels of GEF-H1 mRNA are reduced during Mk differentiation. ∗∗∗p < 0.005, versus value of PreMegE day 0.
(B) Relative levels of ECT2 mRNA were also decreased. ∗∗∗p < 0.005, versus value of PreMegE day 0.
(C) The protein levels of GEF-H1 and ECT2 are reduced with different kinetics as shown by western blotting. Anti-α-tubulin was used as the loading control. Relative protein level of each sample after normalization to tubulin and setting PreMegE level as 1 are indicated above each band.
Developmental Cell  , DOI: ( /j.devcel )
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6. Figure 4 GEF-H1 and ECT2 Are Reduced in Endomitotic Mks
(A) Cells were stained with anti-GEF-H1 (red), anti-α-tubulin (green), and DAPI. Examples of normal mitosis (i–iii, PreMegEs cultured in GM), 2N to 4N endomitosis (iv–vi), and ≥4N endomitosis (vii–ix) are shown. GEF-H1 protein level is reduced at the 2N to 4N stage of endomitosis and increases at later stages (2 days) of endomitosis.
(B) ECT2 protein, stained with anti-ECT2 antibody (red), is clearly detected in PreMegEs undergoing mitosis (i–iii), and at the 2N to 4N stage of endomitosis (iv–vi), but ECT2 levels are reduced at later stages (2 days) of endomitosis (vii–ix).
Developmental Cell  , DOI: ( /j.devcel )
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7. Figure 5
Differential Effects of Overexpressing GEF-H1 or ECT2 on Polyploidization of Mks
(A–C) PreMegE cells in GM were transduced with retroviral vectors (control and expressing individual GEFs) and cultured for 2 days, then transferred to DM for 3 days before the ploidy of each sample was assessed. (A) Shown is the effect of overexpressing control (GFP) virus, GEF-H1, or ECT2 encoding virus. Ploidy of GFP+ cells in each condition is shown. The percentages of Mks in 2N, 4N, and ≥8N ploidy are indicated. (B) The average ploidy of Mk expressing GFP only (control), GEF-H1, or ECT2 is compared. ∗∗∗p < 0.005, versus control. (C) In this experiment, cells were transduced with two retroviral vectors (one encoding RFP and the other GFP). Controls received vectors encoding only RFP and GFP. GEF-H1 (top, second panel) received GFP control plus GEF-H1-IRES-RFP vectors, ECT2 (top, third panel) received ECT2-IRES-GFP plus control RFP vectors, the fourth panel (top) shows cells transduced with ECT2-IRES-GFP plus GEF-H1-IRES-RFP. Samples in lower panel were transduced with RhoAN19-IRES-GFP together with RFP control (left), GEF-H1-IRES-RFP (middle), or ECT2-IRES-RFP (right). Ploidy is shown for GFP+RFP+ (double-positive) cells.
(D) Western blot of HEL cells transduced with the indicated virus validates expression vectors.
(E) Overexpression of GEF-H1 also decreases polyploidization of Mks in vivo. CD45.1 BM cells were transduced with control (GFP only) or GEF-H1-IRES-GFP virus, and transplanted into lethally irradiated CD45.2 mice. After 6 weeks, the ploidy of GFP-positive Mks was analyzed. Representative ploidy profiles from GFP+ Mks expressing empty virus or GEF-H1 are shown.
(F) Average ploidy of GFP-positive Mks recovered 6 weeks posttransplant. ∗p < 0.05, versus the value of control.
Developmental Cell  , DOI: ( /j.devcel )
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8. Figure 6 Downregulation of GEF-H1 Is MKL1 Dependent
(A) The relative mRNA level of GEF-H1 is significantly increased in Mkl1−/− Mks, and shows very little decrease with Mk differentiation. WT or Mkl1−/− PreMegEs or MkPs were cultured in DM as indicated. ∗∗∗p < 0.005, versus the corresponding WT control.
(B and C) Relative ECT2 mRNA levels are the same for WT and Mkl1−/− cells (B). In both, ECT2 mRNA decreases during Mk differentiation. p > 0.1 for the values of Mkl1−/− versus the corresponding WT control, (C) PreMegEs cultured in GM (mitotic controls, i–iii and vii–ix), and MkPs cultured in TPO-only medium, which induces endomitosis, were immunostained as indicated. Unlike WT MkPs (iv–vi), Mkl1−/− MkPs do not show a loss of GEF-H1 protein level in response to TPO induction (x–xii).
(D and E) 293FT cells were transduced with empty vector (−), WT Mkl1 (WT), constitutively active (CA) Mkl1, which lacks the actin binding domain, or dominant-negative (DN) Mkl1, which lacks the transcriptional activation domain but can still heterodimerize with endogenous Mkl1. Overexpression of CA MKL1 significantly reduces endogenous GEF-H1 mRNA (D) and protein (E) levels compared to cells transduced with empty vector (−), WT Mkl1 (WT), and dominant-negative (DN) Mkl1. GAPDH was used as a loading control in (E). ∗∗∗p < 0.005, and ∗∗p < 0.01, versus the value of empty vector (−).
(F) Quantitative RT-PCR reveals much higher levels of GEF-H1 and ECT2 mRNA in the 6133 cell line compared to WT PreMegEs with PreMegE value set to 1. Values normalized to 18S RNA (∗∗∗p < 0.005).
Developmental Cell  , DOI: ( /j.devcel )
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9. Figure 7
Knockdown of GEF-H1 Restores Polyploidy in Mkl1−/− Mks In Vitro
(A) WT or Mkl1−/− PreMegEs were transduced with retrovirus encoding either shRNA-targeting luciferase or GEF-H1, as indicated. After TPO induced differentiation, ploidy was assessed. A representative ploidy plot for each condition is shown. The percentages of Mks in 2N, 4N, 8N, and ≥16N ploidy are indicated.
(B) Average ploidy of these samples (∗∗∗p < 0.005).
(C) Validation of shRNA-mediated knockdown of GEF-H1 protein in NIH 3T3 cells transduced with the indicated constructs. GFP-positive shRNA-expressing cells were sorted, and analyzed by western blot. GAPDH was used as the loading control.
Developmental Cell  , DOI: ( /j.devcel )
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